SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has ended the lockdown that began around 11 a.m. when police were called in to investigate a report of a man with a gun.

At 2:20 p.m., URI issued this message on its Facebook page:

Update: The Kingston campus lock-down has ended. State police have cleared Chafee Hall. The investigation has revealed that at no time was there a gun or an active shooter on the campus. Everyone can resume their normal activities. Shuttles and RIPTA will resume shortly. Classes will resume on Friday, April 5.

Earlier in the day, a URI spokeswoman had had this to say: “We are investigating reports of man with a gun in or around Chafee Hall on campus,” reading from an official statement the university planned to post on its website. She said everyone on the campus has been told to stay where they are, except for Chafee Hall, which has been evacuated. She said the report came in at about 10:45 a.m.

Shortly after 1 p.m., URI updated its Facebook page with the following statement:

As of 12:45 pm, the University is still investigating reports of a man with a gun in or around Chafee Hall on the Kingston campus. We have notified the campus community through our emergency alert system, the website, and email to “Secure yourself indoors (not Chafee), stay there, and do not move about outside until further notice.

The University has activated its Emergency Operations Center. All precautions continue to be taken. No injuries have been reported.

Classes have been cancelled on the Kingston campus.

Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven O'Donnell has issued the following statement regarding the report of a shooter on the URI campus within the hour.

"A phone call was made in the last hour from the URI campus reporting an active shooter on campus. URI, South Kingstown Police, and State Police were dispatched to respond to the situation. At this time, we have no further evidence to support the report and are responding to the incident."

The Kingston campus has NOT been cleared. Instructions are still to stay where your are, indoors, until further notice.

Due to extraordinarily high volume, our homepage is not accessible. Therefore we have replaced it temporarily so that we can keep you updated on the ongoing investigation.

Keywords

university of rhode island,
gunman,
lockdown,
chafee hall,
emergency-alert system

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